The difference in the 54 blonde is described as a 'limed white finish'. To a traditional house painter (like my dad who did a proper apprenticeship) a limed white finish was applied by hand with a rag - basically chalky water. You let dry, then applied your clear. From the appearance of old Teles compared to earlier Blackguard that's what they look like to me. I think what Fender does on the 50's Classic and Mary Kay Strats is just paint them a white rather than yellowish 'aged blonde'. But it doesn't quite look the same

Thanks for the replies guys. I’m thinking maybe 10-12 drops of mixol white with lacquer thinned 50/50. Lock in the white with a coat of clear. Then spray a coat of amber lacquer thinned 50/50 for the aged look. Then spray six coats of clear

Your approach may look just fine - or may be far too "amber". It will not be nearly as yellow as most of the the example above. Most amber aging toners are too "brown" with some reddish tones. And are you going fo an aged/relic look or a "new" guitar look?

The main issue is that there is no specific color as what you describe. Originals have long since changed into virtually hundreds of different variations, and "custom", "reissue" and such versions are each significantly different.

Your best approach is to pick a guitar you like and try to match as best you can to that. To do it, however, you'll need to understand the various processes involved. It's is a transparent finish and as such very difficult to achieve consistently unless you have excellent spray technique with semi-transparent finishes.

Whichever way you go I suggest spraying the whole system on some scrap with distinctive grain so you'll know what to expect. Once the white is applied you'll be on a one-way street and may not like the results.

That's nice! How does that Charlie Christian pup sound in the neck position?

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It sounds just like I expected it to: mid-heavy, round, clear, kind of hooty but not too much.

With the Novak bridge, a low wind, the middle position sounds like a traditional tele middle position.

My cap is an .047, with a variable treble bleed.

One issue with the shellac method is to be sure to apply the shellac in a randomized pattern. As a newbie, I did it in strokes, which made it a bit of a pain to sand and produced some subtle streaking in the white. If I had to do it over, I'd spray. But my wife appreciated the complete lack of smell in the house, and my early morning shellac sessions were meditative ... : )

Wellermart sells a decent product. I've used a few of their shellac offerings - garnet, platina, and button lac. They are all clean and dissolve easily. I like using the "green" variety of denatured alcohol or 190 proof P.G.A. (aka Everclear). I'd rather be breathing corn fumes than "industrial alcohol" fumes.

People that know more about it than I do, say don't use the low octane Everclear (160 proof?) At my local state store the 190 proof is much cheaper than the weaker stuff, but you have to ask for it - they keep it in the stockroom instead of on the sales shelf. I suppose it could be a potentially dangerous substance in the hand of dummies . I do know it's hell on the vocal cords; difficult to speak after doing a shot, probably temporary paralysis due to the anesthetic effect .